Mohammad Nabi who holds the record for most appearances in Afghanistan cricket has announced his retirement from international cricket through a major update. The 41-year-old will say goodbye to the game 17 years after making his Afghanistan debut in 2009. 

 

Nabi will step away after the Sri Lanka series which ACBXtra reported will begin on March 13. On Thursday, March 5, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced squads for three T20Is and three ODIs. The two squads include Mohammad Nabi who probably will play his last game on March 25.

 

Mohammad Nabi played a key role in Afghanistan cricket’s rise on the global stage. He appeared in Afghanistan's first-ever ODI in 2009 and also their first T20I in 2010. Notably, Nabi remains the only cricketer who has represented Afghanistan since the beginning, becoming their most-capped player with more than 300 matches across formats.

 

The Afghanistan cricket team will continue its operations after the Sri Lanka series without Mohammad Nabi for the first time in its history. Speaking about Nabi's remarkable career, he has played 327 matches and scored over 6000 runs. Nabi has achieved another accomplishment by taking 288 wickets through his bowling activities across all cricket formats.

 

Nabi achieved his best work through his career which brought Afghanistan to new heights while he led the team to the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals. Afghanistan cricket will experience a major loss because the 41-year-old player has decided to retire from the sport.

 

As mentioned before, Afghanistan lost their first match in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 tournament. The ACB made important changes after their unsatisfactory performance at the tournament. The board removed Jonathon Trott as head coach and appointed Richard Pybus as the new coach.

 

The board wanted a coach who could spend more time in Afghanistan, which led to Trott’s departure despite his successful tenure. The ACB removed Rashid Khan from his position as T20I captain and chose Ibrahim Zadran to take his place as captain.

 

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Afghanistan’s T20I Squad For Sri Lanka Series:

 

Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Noor Rahman (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Shahidullah Kamal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik and Abdullah Ahmadzai.

 

Reserves: Nangyal Kharoti, Bilal Sami and Ijaz Ahmadzai.

 

Afghanistan’s ODI Squad For Sri Lanka Series:

 

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik and Bilal Sami.

 

Reserves: Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi and Bashir Ahmad.

 

At present, the series is under scrutiny because of the recent tensions in west asia.